I remember this old guy on TV who had lived a very long time into a ripe old age. When he was asked why he thought he had lived such a long time, he smiled and said, "I think it was because I drank too much whiskey, smoked like a chimney, and chased women like crazy. Grin!

But then it may not be so much about how long we live but rather the quality of our life while we ARE living that makes all of the difference. Isn't it?

So we scan our bodies, we exercise, and we eat our spinach because it just makes good sense. Avoiding suffering is just an obvious advantage to anyone’s life.

I won't even get into the psychological and Spiritual advantages of being aware as well as receptive.

Shirley, thank you for what you said about your mother. What a lovely morning ritual, and I tend to think it probably did add to her long life. It sounds like she took the scanning and awareness to the next level, to where the divine is acknowledged through thankfulness. I like that, and I am going to add that to my scanning.

My mother did a regular body scan. She would bless each part of her body -- everything: bones, tissues,
cells. I don't know if it "worked", but she lived well past 94. To me, it seemed like a lovely thing to do, bless and be thankful.

Yes, some days my morning kata has little resemblance to the customary forms. This muscle needs to go that way, and that joint needs a couple more reps of that move...;-D) it is probably outrageous to call it kata on some days.;-D

You have made some excellent and insightful points...Thanks for sharing. : ^ )

When I work out with weights, I always scan my body looking passively inward in a general way at the whole body, at least at first, and allowing my body to tell me where my attention is needed right then.

It is really kind of a relaxation in motion. My attention is a little like the conductor and my bodies motions like the orchestra, where as my motion is like a physical music and the suitable dance together.

My attention also tells me if I must hesitate for a moment or for instance hold my arm in a slightly different manner in order to avoid injuries.

This is not forced nor is it any kind of should that imposes itself on me. This is more like a love affair and similar to meditation leaves me both refreshed and nourished on a deeper level.

a wise and effective process. we are like in a t.v. studio with lots of other broadcasts on t.v.'s all around. by calming down, and focusing on the body we get the base line of our body which can be more revealing than any doctor's exam. it's good on a daily basis, but is not sufficient for conducting our lives: we need to check outside reality frequently for that is where we operate most of the time. socializing, working, part of the commercial and political system, and creativity. but with the base line established, we can function better in all dimensions.